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Coworking spaces vs Homes vs Coffee Shops

Let's think of an ideal working situation- you would want the comfort of working on your own time and having the liberty to decide when you want to get back home. I am pretty sure almost everyone has at one point of their lives admired people who work from home and have wanted the same.

I am sure you have gone out to cafes and looked over at people there with laptops and wondered how rad it must be to work out of a cafe and sip onto some delicious iced latte. But to be very honest, these things might sound good and might work out for most of the people around but there is only so long that this might last.

Home offices might seem like a good option to go for if you want a low budgeted workspace but I am sure there is only so long that it can last. Working from home means you can wake up at any time and work out of your kitchen desk. You can set up the environment just as you like and adjust the settings according to your moods.

But what most people don't see in the beginning of adopting this working style is that the most important thing you miss out on is networking. You don't get to interact with people out of your bedroom and build your circle. Your home ends up being your work station too and you might feel that you are around your work all the time.

After a point of time, it might seem mundane and boring. As comfortable as working from home sounds, the productivity levels of an individual seem to drop. After all, how much can you resist from taking an occasional nap? How much can you deal with not being able to meet new people and only work in isolation? Probably not long. Working from home might get so relaxing for you; you might end up losing touch with professionalism as well.

Coming to coffee shops, it is the go to option for freelancers. You get to leave your house and go work out of a new setting. You can get yourself a table and make it your dedicated desk and set up your laptop and sip onto your daily dose of caffeine. You also bump into people, so you don't feel like you are completely secluded from the world. It sounds pretty great but as much as you think you can have beneficial social interactions at a coffee shop, you can't.

These interactions are mere social conversations, hardly ever are they networking opportunities. Apart from not being able to build your network, you might get internet there but let's face it- the internet at most coffee shops is just terrible. And to add on to that, there are so many people who are logged into the same connection. It will obviously get difficult for you to get your research going at a good pace.

Cafes are where friends meet and you almost always have a noisy cafe. If you work with a partner, your table might not be able to fit both of y'all together because not every cafe is designed thinking of having shared desk spaces as their coffee tables. It is also difficult to keep a check on your belongings because nobody looks over at your things in a cafe. It is often difficult to get that same cozy spot everyday as well. Hence, the comfort and productivity at a cafe might as well be your average level.

But now let's look at co-working spaces. There is a reason why co-working spaces have been a boon to freelancers majorly. A co-working space is a perfect balance of comfort and productivity. You get to choose the kind of co-working space you would like to work from, hence you pretty much select your own work space vibe. You can walk in at a time you are comfortable with and walk out whenever you want. You can take breaks throughout the day and basically do your own thing to keep yourself energized.

One of the major boons of co-working spaces is that they give tremendous networking opportunities. Recently, co-working spaces have started giving a lot more support to entrepreneurs with their business operations as well.

There are hot desks available for rates that suit your budgets. There are dedicated desks also available for people who really like a particular work space and would like to make it their own every day. Co-working office also have affordable plans which ensure no pocket burns. These spaces also hold events that help you build your skill set and keep yourself motivated.

A co-working space is more professional as well. It gives you a more corporate look and feel but yet manages to not make you feel like you're working out of a dull and boring cubicle. The fact that you're working at a shared office space with other people leaves very little scope of you getting distracted by your mind. It will definitely make you more aware of your surroundings which will help you keep yourself on your toes.

The community built at a co-working space is definitely not something you can get at home or at a coffee shop. This community is a large knit social circle that helps each other grow. Conversations with the person on the desk next to you can add so much value to your business and your life, you might not believe it.

After a point of time working from home or from coffee shops might get to you and you will turn to a co-working space. You can shift your co-working spaces too but dropping out of the whole co-working space community isn't something you would go for once you have experienced it.

If you ask me, out of the three, a co-working space gives a person the right balance of everything- comfort, productivity, networking, creativity boosts, coffee and Wi-Fi.